Ok, sure, there obviously is no such thing as a perfect pitch, I’m just trying to get better at using titles that actually attract readers (I’m gonna do a summer internship at Business Insider to really master the art).

But I just received a pitch deck that was so clearly a really good pitch that I wanted to share what I found so effective. So here goes a slide-by-slide narrative of why the deck worked for me.

SLIDE 1: WHAT WE’RE DOING.  Two sentences, 22 words, plain english. One buzzword, but used appropriately. Immediately conveys the idea. Check.

SLIDE 2: TEAM. Yup, that is exactly what I want to see next.

SLIDE 3: THE PROBLEM. Plain english describes the problem and why current solutions are a pain in the ass.

SLIDE 4: THE SOLUTION. Clear description of what this app would allow me to do. Concise but makes it intuitively obvious why this solution would offer real value.

SLIDES 5-8: 2 EXAMPLE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS.  Very discrete and understandable real world illustrations of how I might experience the problem in the course of my life and how the app would solve it. If it were an actual meeting and not just a deck this is where the demo would be.  But in the absence of a demo, the slides do a really good job of describing how the app works and why I would like it.  This is where he got me.  I am often kinda slow on the uptake, but I really, really need an entrepreneur to give me really concrete and clear examples of how their product actually works. My advice: if you can’t give really discrete examples of how your product works that a very average user will understand, you aren’t ready for VC pitches. 

SLIDE 9: MARKET. Ideally it is big, right?

SLIDE 10: BUSINESS MODEL. You don’t always need this for seed stage pitches. But it helps.

SLIDE 11: INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY.  Duh.

SLIDE 12: USE OF PROCEEDS. Don’t forget to include how long this amount of capital will last you without revenue.  (This guy gets a ding here. But 11 out of 12 is pretty good).

If you are going to send or give me a pitch and happen to follow this format, extra brownie points 😉